THE RELIGIOUS WARS IN BUGANDA (1877-1900)

The religious wars were the unhealthy competition, rivalry and mistrust in Buganda among the Catholics, Protestants, Moslems and traditionalists.

They are sometimes referred to as religious confusion/ conflicts at the court/ palace of the king.

Causes of religious wars

To a large extent, Kabaka Mwanga was responsible for the outbreak of the religious wars in Buganda between 1888-1892 as explained below.

Kabaka Mwanga was young and inexperienced who could not handle well the issues at that time hence leading to the religious wars.

The Kabaka was inconsistent and had no clear religion i.e. He could become a catholic, protestant and the next day a Muslim. This led to confusion hence the religious wars.

Mwanga ordered for the killing of Bishop James Hannington in Busoga which annoyed the Missionaries hence the religious wars’. The Protestants, Catholics and Muslims and when he did not get them, he hated them leading to the religious Wars.

Mwanga’s unethical behavior of being a homosexual also brought a lot of resistance in the Kingdom thus leading to the religious wars.

Mwanga expected guns from the new religious groups.e.the Protestants, Catholics and Muslims and when he did not get them, hated them leading to the religious wars.

KabakaMwanga also ordered for the killing of the Uganda martyrs which brought him into conflicts with the Christian Missionaries leading to the religious wars.

KabakaMwanga was also a dictator and when the Missionaries opposed him, it resulted into religious wars.

Mwanga’s desire to protect the political independence of Buganda kingdom and maintain himself in power also led to the wars.

Mwanga’s desire to preserve the traditional norms and culture of Buganda brought him into conflicts with the white Missionaries thus the wars.

Kabaka Mwanga ordered for the expulsion of all foreigners from Buganda which made them combine to fight him in the religious wars.

Mwanga aborted plan to abandon the Missionaries on the island of lake Victoria so that they could die of hunger also annoyed the Missionaries hence fighting Mwanga.

KabakaMwanga blamed the Missionaries for the mysterious fire that caught his granary/food store hence leading to the religious wars.

He further blamed the Missionaries for the death of his mother (Namasole) which also led to conflicts hence the wars.

He over listened and believed the Muslims who told him that the Missionaries were agents of European colonization which made him to fight the Missionaries.

However, to a small extent, there were other factors that contributed to the outbreak of the religious wars as shown below.

The desire for the religious denomination to win culminated into war.

Each religious group also wanted to win in the favors of the Kabaka and as a result, they blackmailed themselves leading to the religious wars.

The influence of the Arab Muslims in Buganda also increased the Confusion because they kept on exerting pressure on the kawaka to expel the Christian Missionaries.

The role of the traditionalists who also criticized Christianity for undermining the African values and culture also resulted into religious confusion in Buganda.

Mother countries like Britain and France had longterm differences which were also transferred by the Christian Missionaries thus causing the religious wars.

The untimely death of kabaka Muteesa I in 1884 created a political vacuum in Buganda leading to the appointment of Mwanga who could not control the religious groups.

The struggle for political power in Buganda between the Protestants and Catholics so led to the wars.ie each of them wanted a prime minister (katikkiro) to come from their side.

The involvement of Captain Lugard in the political issues of Buganda also increased the tension. eg he gave 100 guns to the Protestants to fight the Catholics hence the war.

Religious disagreements among various pages in the King’s court led to the religious wars.ie they started questioning the authority of the king which forced him to kill them.

The Islamisation policy in Buganda where the Muslims forced Christians to join Islam by destroying churches and Killing those who refused annoyed the Missionaries forcing them to fight the Muslims.

It is also believed that the Muslims fueled the Conflicted caused the wars because they wanted to create market for their guns.

Buganda’s traditional belief that a foreigner from the East would come and take away their independence caused tension leading to the religious wars.

Course of the religious wars

The first missionary group to come to Buganda was the CMS that arrived at kabaka Mutesa I’s palace in 1877.

In 1879, catholic missionaries also arrived and joined the protestant missionaries (CMS).

Between 1879-80 the two groups started conflicting with each other especially their leaders i.e. Alexander Mackey of the protestants and father Loudel Simon of the Catholics.

In 1884, Mutesa 1 died and he was succeeded by his son Mwanga who was only 18 years old.

Meanwhile, Bishop Hannington came from the coast and he entered Buganda through Busoga. Mwanga ordered his men to arrest him and kill him and he was killed in 1885.

Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe who was by then a page at Mwanga’s palace criticized Mwanga for killing the Bishop.

The king responded by sentencing him to death and he was killed in November 1885.

In 1886, there occurred the massive killing of Christians at Namugongo who had disobeyed Mwanga’s orders of coming back to the traditional region.

These became the Uganda Martyrs and they were real Christians because they were singing hymns as they were going to be killed, preached to their persecutors and strongly believed in life after death.

The killing of the Uganda martyrs made the Christians to realize that they need protection from their home government to safeguard the future of Christianity in Buganda.

Mwanga then started making peace with those religions and this gave a chance to the three religious groups to get arms and organized themselves into military groups.

By 1888, the missionaries had well-armed themselves and Mwanga got scared of the military strength.

In April 1888, the united forces of the new religions attempted a coup against Mwanga.

Mwanga fled from the catholic to coast south of lake in Sukuma land in order to safeguard himself.

The united forces of the new religions divided themselves after the running away of Mwanga because they failed to agree on who should take overpower.

The Muslims who were powerful in terms of number and arms overpowered the Christians who also fled to Kabula on the border with Ankole.

The Muslims enthroned Kiwewa as a Muslim king who refused to be circumcised. It is reported that he was killed and he was replaced by Kalema who embracedIslam.

The Muslims, therefore, started Islamizing all people in Buganda and they did this by harassing the Christians through killing them, destroying churches and burning Bibles.

Such events made Catholics and protestants to unite and come back to fight the Muslims.

They fought and defeated the Muslims and brought back Mwanga as a king of Buganda in 1890.

The unity between Catholics and Protestants was short-lived as the two groups started fighting and quarreling for political offices where many had been given to the Catholics.

The Protestants were helped by Captain Fredrik Lugard to fight the Catholics and this resulted into the religious wars between 1890-92 which was ended with the defeat of the Catholics.

The climax of these wars on the 24^th Jan 1892 at the battle at Mengo when the two groups conflicted each other and the protestants won the battle.

After one month a true (an agreement) was signed where the Protestants under IBECO was recognized as the leaders of Buganda.

After the agreement, the protestants on several occasions convinced the British government to take over Uganda and this came to pass in 1894 when the British remained in Buganda their protectorate.

In 1897, there was an attempt by kabaka Mwanga to regain his independence but he was defeated. He was removed from power and exiled Seychelles Islands.

In 1900 the Buganda agreement was signed and it consolidated British rule over Buganda and established a special relationship between the British and Buganda under a new king called Daudi Chw a and his prime minster Sir Apollo Kaggwa.

Effects of the religious wars in Buganda in general

The wars had both positive and negative effects on the general social, political and economic life of people as shown below.

Positive effects

The wars led to the end of absolute rule in Buganda because they brought in use of constitutional leadership by the king.

The wars led to the recognition of the existence of Christianity in Buganda hence leading to its rapid spread in the religion.

Conflicts led to competition for converts among the different foreign religions something that made them provide social services to Ugandans in order to convert them.

During the wars, Catholics and protestants united and this has given way to the current ecumenical movement among different Christians groups today.

Negative effects

Many people lost their lives during the wars and it’s estimated that around 200 of them died.

They also led to the destruction of property characterized by burning of churches, Bibles, Christian homes etc.

The wars led to the imprisonment of people without trial as each religious group wanted to dominate the other.

The wars led to political instability in Buganda which led many people to leave Buganda in order to safeguard their lives.

The conflicts led to division of Buganda on religious lines e.g. one county was for Muslims, 8 counties were for Catholics and 11 counties were for protestants.

Conflicts caused family and clan disintegration and disagreement because people in the same clan and family belonged to different religions.

Religious wars led to exile of people to far places in order to bring order in Buganda e.g. Kabaka Mwanga was exiled to Sychelles Island.

The wars led to the spread of foreign religions in Buganda and this led to the end of some traditional practices like that were still going on in Buganda e.g.polygamy, shrines, worshiping of small gods etc.

The conflicts interfered the rapid spread of Christianity in Buganda as many people feared to join Christianity until the wars were over.

Religious wars laid a platform for the loss of Buganda’s independence as the Protestants called upon the British government to come and take over Uganda after winning the wars.

The wars disorganized Buganda’s political, traditional order of monarchism because kings were now being enthroned by the different religious groups.

The wars led to the British declaration of the protectorate over the rest f Buganda in 1894 after being advocated for by missionaries.

The wars led to the signing of 1900 Buganda agreement which the powers of kabaka and intensified British control over Buganda.

Effects of the wars on the church

Positive effects

The wars made the church popular in Buganda and Uganda at large because people’s attention was directly towards the Christian cause.

The conflicts helped to recognize the presence of Christianity in Buganda hence its widespread.

They inspired religious competition among religious groups which made them to spread the gospel at all times all costs.

The wars made Christians to scatter into different parts of Buganda and Uganda leading to spread of gospel in such areas.

The wars produced committed Christian evangelists who were inspired by the mistreatment to spread the gospel e.g. Apollo Kivebulaya.

The wars produced Christian martyrs who out of their heroic actions attracted many people to join Christianity.

They ended the king’s persecution of Christina’s factor that easily led the spreading of Christianity in Buganda.

They led to the division of Buganda’s counties on religious lines which provided a peaceful and favorable environment for spreading the church.

They also brought short term unity and co-operation among the Christians against the Muslims which also favorable of Christianity.

The wars led to the British control over Buganda something that led to the recognition of the church as the state religion hence favouring its spread.

They led to the overthrow of Islam out of Buganda a factor that left Christianity as the only dominate religion in the region.

They led to the British final takeover of Uganda and this brought security to the Christian teachers to spread the gospel everywhere.

They attracted more Christian missionaries to come to Buganda to support their colleagues hence more manpower to spread Christianity.

The wars led to financial support towards the missionaries from their home government and they used this money to spread the gospel through putting up schools and churches.

Negative effects

The wars led to death of some Christians hence reducing the church congregation.

The wars scared away people from joining the church fearing to lose their lives hence hindering the expansion of the church.

They brought instability/ insecurity that scared many Christian teachers from moving to preach the gospel.

During the course of the wars, some Christian followers were imprisoned by the Muslims which threatened many people to join the church.

They made many people to go into exile and this reduced the number of Christians in the region hence church expansion.

The wars portrayed the missionaries as people fighting against the kiganda traditional culture which annoyed the Baganda and stopped them from joining Christianity.

They also revealed the missionaries as colonial agents which also made many East Africans not to join Christianity

The wars favoured the spread of Islam in Buganda especially when Kalema was the Muslim king and this hindered the progress of the church.

They also resulted into destruction of church property such as Holy Bibles and church structures which were burnt by the Muslims.

The wars scared some Christian missionaries in Europe from coming into Buganda to assist theirfellow missionaries in spreading Christianity.